s with the nearby Columbus Commons park project, city leaders hope money spent on improving the Scioto Mile will spark even
more investment from the private sector. Although not readily visible, some changes have already begun. If not for the Scioto
Mile, developer Don Casto said, a Casto family investment group would “still be sitting on” a now-vacant building it has owned
for 25 years near the park at Main and Front streets. Most recently, he said, the property was used as a storage facility
but made little money. It was shut down a couple of years ago.

Now, Casto is studying renovation ideas for the seven-story former shoe factory, with a conversion to office space or luxury
apartments most likely.

He hopes to have a plan in place within a year and have the building renovated within three years.

“It was a real backwater over there for years,” he said.

“The area is improving substantially now. (Developer and philanthropist) Dick Solove used to say, the best way to make a lot
of money in the real-estate market is to live a long time.

“After all these years, the

market is maturing rapidly,

thanks to the project.”

Months ahead of the opening, the area was dealt a slight setback when longtime neighborhood anchor Columbia Gas said it would
move its headquarters and 650 employees to the Arena District in late 2014. The company, a major donor to the Scioto Mile
project, has pledged to help find a new tenant for the building, which it leases from an investment group.

“We still own the land underneath our building here, so we have a vested interest in seeing the site remain successful,” said
Columbia Gas spokesman Ken Stammen. “We’ve been a supporter of the Scioto Mile from the beginning and are very excited about
its opening.

“We’ll be here another three years, and we won’t be moving far away. It will continue to be a great amenity for the city and
our employees for years to come.”

Rob Click, senior managing director of the Columbus commercial real-estate firm CB Richard Ellis, is upbeat about the prospects
for not only the Columbia Gas building but also the whole area surrounding the Scioto Mile.

“The Scioto Mile and the new (county) court building are a vast improvement to the area, he said. “I’m not saying that people
are going to go build new high-rises down here now, but I think it could spur some new construction.

“The loss of City Center (mall) was a blow to the area. Now, I think it’s very much in a positive mode.”

On the residential side, new apartments are almost fully leased. Capitol South owns the land on which the Annex at River South
apartments were built in partnership with Lifestyle Communities. The complex sits across the street from the former Lazarus
building, which now houses offices and is managed by Capitol South.

Annex at River South, which has more than 200 apartments with rents starting at less than $800, filled a need for young professionals
who wanted to live Downtown but couldn’t afford to or didn’t want to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars in a condominium.

One of the buildings was changed from condos to rentals when the recession and housing-market crash essentially halted the
condo market.

Bicentennial Park, along with the rest of the Scioto Mile, is being hailed as a free amenity open to all, but owners of the
upscale Waterford and Miranova condo buildings might be most thrilled about the improvements because of the value they add
to their homes.

A listing for a $784,000, 21st-floor condo in Miranova touts its “spectacular view” of the river and “the new Scioto Mile”
as a primary attraction.

“I stood there on my balcony and clapped as they laid the last piece of sod,” said Carolyn Petree, a Coldwell Banker King
Thompson agent who lives in the Waterford and has listings for both the Waterford and Miranova.

“We’ve been watching it happen for three years now,” she said. “We’re really excited, and I’m confident it’s going to boost
our home values.”